Clutch mechanism.



No. 798,219. PATENTED AUG. 29, 1905.

W. H. SGOTTON.

CLUTCH MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 3, 1905.

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PATENTED AUG. 29, 1905.

W.-H. SGOTTON. CLUTCH MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED 31111.3, 1905..

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WVILLIAM HENRY SCOTTON, OF IPSWICH, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TOARTHUR HAC KBLOCK, OF FERN BEECH, EP SOM, ENGLAND.

CLUTCH MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 29, 1905.

Application filed January 3, 1905. Serial No. 239,388.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HENRY Soo'r- TON, a subject of the King ofthe British Dominions, residing at Ipswich, in the county of Suffolk,England, (whose post-office address is 69 All Saints road, Ipswich.)have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clutch Mechanism,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in the mechanism used forclutching a required member of a series of spur-wheels which are mountedon a hollow shaft, the said wheels intermeshing with correspondingspur-wheels gnounted on a second shaft parallel with the rst.

In the further description of this invention reference is made to theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of thesaid two shafts with the intermeshed wheels thereon. Fig. 2 is asectional extension of part of the hollow shaft on the left side ofFig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional transverse elevation of two of theintermeshed wheels with the clutching device out of action. Fig. 4 is atransverse section of the hollow shaft with the clutch device in action.Fig. 5 is a longitudinal elevation of a sliding bar operating the clutchdevice. Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the clutch device, and Fig. 7 atransverse elevation of the same.

In the drawings a hollow shaft (0 is revolubly mounted in bearings b,and three or other plural number of spur toothed wheels 9 are looselymounted on the hollow shaft a, so that they may revolve freely thereon.A sliding driver or locking-piece c, of special construction, movablewithin a slot cut through the hollow shaft a beneath each wheel mountedthereon, is adapted to lock each of the said toothed wheels to theshaft, according to the on the hollow shaft vary in diameter and aremounted loosely until locked and kept from moving sidewise by sleeves,collars, distancepieces a, or the like, so as to be exactly opposite thewheels h of a corresponding diameter,

which are keyed to the solid shaft. The hollow shaft is bored to receivea sliding barf, having a collar f near the end, by which it is actuated,the said collar being slightly smaller than the bore of the shaft toenable it to slide within freely as far as may be required. From thecollar to the other end the sliding bar is flattened and portions cutaway at obtuse angles, so that at about the center a short parallelpiece f of the bar is left projecting at the full diameter and in linewith the sur: face of the collar, beveled obtusely down on each side tothe cut-away portions of the bar, while a corresponding recess f iscutaway from the opposite or full line of the bar; but the recess israther wider and with more obtuse angles than the projecting piece. Atthe extreme end of the flattened part of the bar a similar parallelprojectionf' is left standing, but beveled on one side only, and a wideand flatter bevel f made at the opposite edge to approximatelycorrespond to the projection; but in some cases this may be modified.

Each wheel 9 on the hollow shaft a is formed or combined with a boredflange g and has internal teeth g formed within the bore of its hub theteeth being preferably of the rounded type top and bottom. A slot is cutthrough the hollow shaft where each wheel g is mounted, and a sliding'key 0, acting as a driver, is fitted to slide up and down irr each ofthese slots, having on one edge a few teeth similarly formed to theinternal teeth and adapted to engage with them. This sliding driver 0 isshown separately in the two elevations, Figs. 6 and 7. An oblong slot,with beveled edges 0' at the top and bottom, is also formed in eachsliding driver, and the driver is adapted to freely slide on theflattened part of the sliding barf, so that when confined in placewithin its slot in the hollow shaft and the sliding bar pushed in andout by any suitable means the projecting portion f of the sliding barcoming in contact with the beveled edges 0 forces the sliding driver 0up through its slot on one side of the hollow shaft, causing the fewteeth of that particular driver to engage with the internal teeth 9 ofthe corresponding wheel, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4:, and thereforelocking it to the shaft to partake of its circular motion. In pushingthe sliding barf into position to lock a particular wheel to the hollowshaft (0 and forcing its special driver 0 up to encan be so connected atone time as to fully gage with its wheel g by means of the shortparallel piece f left projecting on that edge of the bar, as justdescribed, the remaining cut-away portion or portions, together with thefull diameter of its opposite edge, are adapted to withdraw any otherdriver 0 that may have been locked by its teeth to its correspondingwheel, so that the latter becomes free. Therefore however many pairs ofwheels may be intermeshed only one pair transmit all the driving power,the others being out of engagement through their respective driving-keys0 being depressed on the side of the cut-away part of the bar but theabovementioned and projecting piece may also be used to force the enddriver into engagement with its wheel, thus shortening the travel of'thesliding bar; otherwise one projection, situated about the center of thelength of the flattened part, is suflicient for that purpose; but if thesaid projecting parts are used they must be so spaced with relation tothe portion of the wheels on the hollow shaft that only one of thelatter can be locked to its shaft at a time, all other'l wheels that maybe employed being loose or free to turn on the hollow-shaft. The endprojecting piece is also adapted as a'guide within the hollow shaft atone end and the collar above mentioned as another.

In order to keep the wheels g a sufiicient distance apart and to allowfor the cutting of the internal teeth g they are provided with flangesbored below the depth of and seated upon thimbles which may be loose onthe shaft.

What I claim,and desire to secure by United States Patent, is

In a clutch mechanism the combination of a hollow shaft having aplurality of slots therein, with a toothed wheel having internal teethin its bore and an extended hub mounted revolubly at each slot, said hubbeing bored to allow said internal teeth to be cut full depth, akey-driver having projecting teeth on one part of its peripheralsurface, plain circular surface on the opposite peripheral surface,parallel sides and a central oblong slot, a bar flat at a portion of itslength having a projecting part and corresponding recess on oppositeedges adapted to slide within said key-driver slot and said hollow shaftto force said driver-teeth into or out of contact with said internalteeth, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM HENRY SGOTTON.

